Chapter 49

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Nick was drumming his fingers along the table, his eyes focused. The first he knew of Judy returning was when she spoke out of the blue.

"Right... That's all sorted, and Bogo's pulling the favour chain up to the prison warden." She breathed in and out. "Gonna see Dawn again… It's been a long time."

"Be safe."

"I will be," she announced, only to pause, looking over. "Everything okay, Slick?"

He remained silent, even as Judy walked up to him and put a paw on his own.

"Listen," she said, her ears going down. "I know I don't know what it's like to have… mammals, like that, going around and threatening you with harm. I can never…"

"It's not that," Nick cut in.

"Oh," Judy said, sitting down next to her. "Thinking about Kris again, or the case."

"Uh-hu," he agreed.

"I've been thinking about it too," she said. "Dominic Calrama paid that ermine off to slander us, right?"

Nick snorted. "Not that it worked very well, did it."

"Compared to Honey, no," she agreed. "Anyhow… Even if… shall we say, competently challenged, it was a go against us. I'm really thinking this was all a revenge ploy for Dawn. Kris… or rather Ash, were just planned as collateral. A means to an end." She paused, her foot drumming. "I shouldn't be surprised, coming from that family. Others are just… tools to them. And why? Because they think that mammals like you think you're better."

"Hey," Nick smiled. "Gimme some of that good PSC."

She rolled her eyes, only to look down. "The thing is… I was wondering. Is that… -more offensive to you, or less?"

He cocked his head. "Than..?"

"Than mammals going after you because they think you're a savage, or a criminal, or a danger to them. I…" She fumbled with her words for a second or two. "I mean, what I get is mammals thinking I don't know what's for my own good, that they know what's best for my simple boring life, and I'm being silly if I don't agree with them." Her foot began drumming harder. "It's patronising, I hate it, yet in that case those mammals, ostensibly, do want what's best for me. And with that, surely it shouldn't be so bad for me as at least they are trying to act in my best interest, yet I just hate it all the more as it doesn't affect them. If I fail, it's all on me, and in that case why are they even bothered, I'm the one fine with taking the hit. In a way, part of me feels like I'd prefer mammals to not like me as I've… -I've got big pointy teeth and look at all the bones! I… I don't know though, so I was curious about you. And this."

Nick shrugged. "I'm going to tl-dr this. Grass is always greener on the other side."

Judy blinked back in shock before snorting out a laugh. "You sly fox!"

He smirked. "I know it."

"Robbing us of that conversation."

"I think you'll find I gave us something snappier and original."

Judy just narrowed her eyes and gave him a light punch.

"Followed by Fox Abuse. Always end with a classic to round it off."

Judy giggled back, only to settle down.

"In truth," Nick mused, "I do part agree with you."

"Huh?"

"About Dominic Calrama." He was drumming his claw tips on the table again. "Then again, this media hit seems spur of the moment. Then again, maybe it all is. Annoyingly, we don't have anything to link the Calrama's to howlers, both the original case or this plant. From what I gather, Kii questioning them at the start was at about the limits of what she could do."

"And yesterday?" Judy asked. "At the school?"

"Coincidence, not that it gave her any more clues from the look of it."

Judy agreed. "All annoying."

"You know what the most annoying thing is?" he asked, looking over.

"What?"

"I forgot the actual thing that I was thinking of when you went off and asked me that question."

Judy blinked, before slapping her head. "Carrot sticks!"

"Coincidentally, I have just remembered," he carried on, earning a brow-furrowing stare. "It's that picture we have of a fox dyed up as Kris. I was able to get it up on the internal records, not that we're allowed to do anything with it, but…"

"But?" Judy asked, as he brought it up.

He began drumming his fingers on the table. "Getting a closer look, I can see that it's not Kris now."

"How?" Judy asked. It looked like him to her.

"Just… little things about the muzzle and the face shape, I…" He breathed in and out. "I am good with faces, Carrots. And that comes down to all sorts of things. The structure, the colours, little bits here and there most mammals wouldn't notice as well as scents and stuff you only spot in-mammal." His gaze hardened. "The fur coloring throws you off, but that's not Kris. Who it is, I don't know, but I'm getting a big sense of Deja-vu."

"Huh?" Judy asked.

"I've seen this fox before," he said, absolutely sure of himself. "In different colours and a different setting, I have seen him before. I don't know where or when, but I have. Which means there's been a fox working against us, with them or apart, for a long time. I'd say way longer than when 'Shylock' turned up. He paused, thinking, before typing in again as Judy spoke.

"Well, Dominic did hire an ermine to get us. Kurt likes pred food and 'claims' he isn't a raging purist. And as I said, Dawn had no qualms about using mammals as tools. Maybe they don't with these guys."

Nick shrugged, before growling. The picture of 'Shylock' from a security cam was up, but the quality was so bad he couldn't recognise it. "Maybe so," he said. "But how long have these mammals been after us. And as I said ages ago, if this was long term planned out, why target a kit we knew when my mother works at that school. Or just try and hit us direct?"

Judy's paws went up. "Maybe someone forced their paw, ordering Maisy to rush it, forcing them to jump in early. Maybe Maisy did it herself. Maybe this guy is part of that 'third faction' we keep talking about."

Nick nodded. "And that's the one that scares me the most."

"Why's that?"

"Because they've been playing this game long before we have, and we don't know what they're doing right now. Where are they, what are they up to, what they want out of all of this and, worst of all, what's their next move going to be?"

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"Enjoy your meat pizza, Stripe-Bun?"

Mmmmmm mmmmmm, Jack 'said', both paws coming up to make an 'OK' sign, eyes closed in culinary bliss.

Looking over from the driver's seat, Finn nodded. "Good to hear. Hold this."

And with that, the striped hare looked down to see a bag thrust into his lap. "What's this?"

"Puke bag."

…

"Ahem," Jack spoke, raising himself up. "I think you'll find that, even disregarding biological impossibilities, with a bit of help my digestive system is perfectly able to handle this little treat without it coming up! Indeed, I am so confident, I'll raise the guarantee to it not doing an acceleration going down either!"

Finn's brow furrowed. "Don't care. My van, my rules. I ain't cleaning bunny puke outta this thing..."

Jack just rolled his eyes and placed the bag between him and Skye, the vixen patting his head a little. She'd finished her part of the pizza shortly before, the pair eating it as Finnick, who'd already eaten his share, drove them down south along the interstate. Just like before, the vehicle was rattling as it raced along at its limit.

The levity brought by their small-talk faded, instead filled with a newfound tension between the two males. Finally, Finnick spoke. "How do you figure it was Duke?"

Skye breathed in and out. "Well, after my useless acting skills almost tripped us up before we even began, I decided to look for an out. Stoatsmith has a two year old son, I tricked him into pouncing my tail and then fawned over him, suggesting I look after him while he showed Jack around… -rather than just leaving him in a scruff hanger."

Finnick smirked. "So use that time to ferret 'round the weasels stuff, right?"

"Not quite."

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"Okay Junior, watcha wanna do?"

Skye, holding the little kit in a paw, walked into the lounge and settled down. The floor was laid out with a rug with roads and house designs on it and a mix of toy cars, planes and automobiles strewn about. In other places were toy blocks, an oversized 'put the shape in the hole' toy and some stuffed animals. Getting down, the kit waddled over to the shape in the hole toy, Skye sitting down and reaching for some of the shapes. "Want some help with it?" she asked, given that the blocks would be hard for him to carry.

Her eyes widened as he completely ignored her, instead going head first into one of the holes and contouring around to come out of another. "Oh, that's your game, huh?" she asked, only then noticing some bendy tubes and other stuff. Well, she remembered playing pounce and burrowing in a sandpit as a kit. This, though, was how the weasel do!

Picking up the toy and twisting it around as he snaked through it, flipping him over, around, bringing out a stream of giggles, she was more than happy to comply.

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…

"-Wait?" Finnick asked. "You spent the whole time playing it safe playing with a kit?"

Skye's eyes narrowed. "Okay, first off, it wasn't all playing it safe. Second, I had a plan."

"What part wasn't safe?" Finn asked, only to pause as he saw Skye blush.

"Not important," she waved off. "Anyway, I…"

"Ah-ah-ah-ah…" he cut in. "First off, where did the trouble come in?"

Her blush increased, before her eyes narrowed. "Fine then," she grumbled.

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"Oooop! Can you get through?" Twisting the tube around, the kit raced along it, even as she raised it up to near vertical. He didn't care! Instead, holding both sides with all four claws, he scurried up the pipe with far more grace than he'd ever had in his short history of walking around on his back paws. "You can do it," she encouraged, and then out he came, head peeking out of the top. "Pop goes the weasel!" she cheered, as he giggled, scurrying out onto her arm.

And then he climbed into her sleeve. "Uh, where are you going?" she asked, as she twitched from the awkward situation. "Uhhh, you can…" She had to stifle a giggle from the ticklish sensation of weasel claws on her skin, even as she felt just a bit uncomfortable. "You can stop there," she warned, only for him to ignore her, climbing over the armpit of her shirt and down.

Into her crop top.

"Hey, where are you… Eeeeeppp…"

She jolted into an awkward pained twitch, her hand-paws curled up and shaking, fur on end complete with a bottle-brushed tail. Top fangs pinching her bottom lip, she slowly relaxed, just a tiny, tiny, bit as the shock subsided. "You're…" she began. "You're not going to get any milk from that."

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In contrast, Finnick had a different take on the whole event. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Skye frowned, giving him a moody look. "The little sod didn't just try that one. Before I could react he let go and went down to the one below, then made a run for number three and bit on to stop me getting him off!" She rubbed an area mid-way down the right side of her chest.

Any attempt to make Finnick sympathise backfired horribly, his laughs so hard the van began to swerve, only cut off when someone behind honked them. He calmed down, just as Jack cut in. "Keep it easy on her," he warned. "Imagine if it was your vix."

"Hey, she likes a bit of nibbling," he said, raising his eyebrows twice.

"There though?" Skye asked.

"Well I don't know… yet," he smirked, his smile increasing as he thought on.

"Anyhow," Jack cut in, catching Skye's attention. "About Duke…"

"Well," Skye said, "that's simple." Her bunny and Finnick, currently adjusting his position due to a large intrusion between his legs, listened on.

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"Hi-ee-na," she narrated, a picture of Haida on her phone.

Baby Sam, looking on, spoke back. "Hi-ee-na."

"Very good," she said, fussing his fur as he began to war dance.

Scrolling on with her phone, she showed a picture of Haida's mate. "Do you know what she is?"

He looked at the allurid, his head tilting before he burst into laughter. "Red raccoon!"

Skye giggled. "Nuh-uh, but close. She's a red panda."

"No! Red raccoon!"

"She looks like one, but she's a red panda."

"NO! Red raccoon! Red Raccoon! Not panda, panda big and fat. Raccoon tail," he said, pointing at her banded tail.

"If you ask her, she'll say she's a red panda," Skye said.

Sam pouted.

"What is she?"

"Red… panda…" he grumbled.

"Very good!" she cheered, making him light up. "Hmmmm, do you know what I am?"

He blinked a few times. "Jacket!"

"Huh?"

"Jacket! You jacket."

It took her a few seconds to clock it. "Oh, you think I'm a jackal?"

He nodded. "Uh-hu."

Well, she could see where he got that from, though she'd expected him to recognise her as a fox, if not her exact species. (Especially a kit fox, she looked just like them, only larger). "Well, I'm not. But good guess. Try again."

He froze, looking at her for a second before his eyes lit up. "Thywacine!"

"...Really?" she asked, quite irritated that he thought she was a marsupial, having previously sampled close to half of her non-pouch-mounted nipples. And, while there was no way he'd know about that yet, she still tried to make her point by holding her fluffy, unstriped tail around for him to see, not that he cared.

"Thywacine! Thywacine! Thywacine! Thywacine!"

"I'm actually a swift fox," she said, deciding not to ask about whatever tale there was behind his previous guess.

"Fox?"

"Uh-hu," she said, "there's lots of different types of foxes."

He nodded along.

Bringing her phone out, she breathed in and out, readying for the next part of her plan. Sam looked on, happily waiting for the next image, cheering when he saw the picture of Duke Weaselton. "Unky Duke!"

Skye smiled. Ha-ha, they had the right place. "Ah, you know him?"

"Unky Duke funny," he said.

"He's funny?" she asked happily.

"He grumpy! And… and he calls things silly names. He calls Wuna gay."

"Luna the Moon Princess?" Skye asked, aware of the children's cartoon.

"Uh-hu… And… and he comes from Zoo-topa. Calls it a big, fruity, ship hole."

Skye burst into laughter, going down on her side.

"I said Unky Duke is funny!"

Skye nodded. "Yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "Did you see him a few days ago? Was he coming to see your dad and going off somewhere?"

"He… he said he going camping, as he not like Zoo-topa. Daddy says he was naughty there and… and he do chores and time-out, and now he done them and was gonna have fun."

"Yeah," Skye said. "I bet Unky Duke didn't like Daddy saying that."

"Unky Duke was mad."

"I bet…"

"And he said… he said stupid foxes were mean to him."

She smiled. "Stupid foxes like me?"

"Nu-uh, there was cop fox…" he began. "And wet-sandwich fox…"

Skye's eyes widened. "Wet sandwich fox? Did he say anything about him?"

"He said… he said he be gettin it now."

Skye felt a chill running down her spine. "Getting what?"

"Uh… -A wet sandwich!"

"Right," Skye said. "Anything else?"

"Uh… He said I get sweeties if I don't go potty, and don't tell daddy!"

"Right," Skye mumbled. "Tell you what, if you do use it and don't tell daddy about this, I'll get you more sweets. Promise?"

"Promise!"

Five minutes later, he'd fallen asleep. Ten minutes later, he was back in his father's paws. And now, the rest of Skye's group had heard all of it.

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"Wet-Sandwich," Finnick said, clicking his paws together. "Why does that…"

"-It's something that Ash got called a lot," Skye said. "Mostly by this one kit in his class… -one who was there when Duke met Ash for the last time. Duke must have picked it up from him and called Ash it then… When he was 'getting it.' And we all know what it was. It's just that it was in the wrong locker."

Finnick took a breath in and out, before a dull growl began to emerge in his throat. Looking up, he pulled the van right onto the slip road. "Hold your puke bag, Stripes. We're going on the mountain roads now, and I'm not stoppin' this weasel hunt for nothing!"

And so it began. Foot down, they charged into the mountains rising up ahead. Green with grass and barren of trees, they loomed over as the narrow road began to snake, following a river. Smatterings of trees and shrubs, nurtured by its waters, began surrounding them, walling off one side or other depending on when they'd last crossed on a bridge.

And all the time, the van rose up, its engine roaring and rattling, Skye, despite her position on the opposite side, gave an occasional glance to the engine temp gauge. All within safe bounds so far, so no meddling. Instead, she looked around, taking in the scenery.

Her eyes flicking down, she glanced in the mirror and blinked.

No… It couldn't be.

She couldn't tell anymore, it was doing its best to hold back, thanks to another vehicle caught between them.

But…

She looked again, straining her eyes, and spoke out. "We're being followed."

Two pairs of eyes turned to hers. "Wait, what?" Finnick asked.

She breathed in and out. "I think… I think there's a silver Zoobaru Impala, third generation, turbo charged, pre-facelift, following us. The same one parked weird right as we left, and something similar was on the road out of the city." She breathed in and out, closing her eyes. "Dammit, I have no clue who or what's driving it. I thought I saw it the first time, but now…"

"A lion and a tiger?" Jack asked.

…

"No. I mean, maybe?" she confessed. "I… I can't remember. Where'd you see those two?"

"Outside the rental place," Jack filled in, "spooked the weasel, he thought they were mob enforcers or something."

…

"After Duke," Skye muttered, rapping her claws along the dash. She closed her eyes, breathed in and out and turned to Finnick. "We need to get a closer look. Is there any way for him to get into the back?"

"Huh? Why?"

"He can look out the back window, maybe even get a picture."

"I… There's a scurry hole I cut, but I don't know if he can fit."

"One way to find out," Jack spoke, unclipping himself and diving under the seat. "Ah… Bit of a squeeze… C'mon, -Ah!"

And with that he was through. "I'm gonna need to move some stuff to get up."

Finnick growled. "Hey, that's not just some stuff, y'hear. That's mine."

"Listen, I'll move this trunk."

Finnick blinked. "Uh, which trunk?"

"The green one."

"Right," he said, going quiet. "Just do that, put it back after, and…" He cut himself off, eyes widening, as a massive pothole appeared from around the corner. He tried to swerve but half-missed, the shock jolting the side of the van into the air for the best part of a second, earning a yell from the back.

"You okay Jack?" Skye shouted, turning around to try and face him.

"-Yeah! Paw, in the lid, I… Ouch…"

"Okay," Finnick ordered, "just move it and…"

"I thought I saw something tiger striped in there…" he said, the fennec in the front wincing up in rage.

"JUST DO YA JOB!"

…

"It's a tiger costume!"

Anything Jack said next was cut off as Finnick slammed his head into the wheel, the horn blaring out.

"How many animal onesie's you have in here?!"

The horn roared again, along with the fennec. "They're Kigurumis!"

"There's an elephant one…" Honk. "A tiger one." Honk. "A… fox one?" Honk "I mean, Judy has a very nice fox one, but what's the point if you're already a…" Honk. "-it's even sand coloured with big ears, not arctic or red or anything. I…" Honk. "-Department of redundancy department."

Finnick, giving up on slamming his head, glared at Skye. "Him in there's your idea. This yo' fault!"

She just put her paws up in defense, all while Jack listed out the bunny one, the dragon one, the pirate one, the lion one with its own mane and poofy tail, the wolf one, the giraffe one with the giant head on a stick, the dino one…

"HOW ABOUT YOU LOOK AT THOSE CHASERS, HUH?!"

Slap… "Dumb me," Jack groaned, before some sliding sounds came from the back. There were a few rattles, before his voice rang out. "Do you have any binoculars?"

Finnick raised his paws from the wheel, giving a look of incredulity out for the ether. "No! Why would I?"

"I mean you have a lava lamp back here, why wouldn't you?"

He groaned. "Get back in front."

There was some rattling and groaning as Jack did just that. Skye, looking on, was thinking, her phone out as she planned. "Okay, new idea."

"New one?" Finnick asked, sounding not too happy.

"There's a hairpin bend coming up, with a layby on the other side. We pull up there, have Jack jump out and pretend to be vomiting on the floor. They won't be able to see us until they go around. We then let them go on. If they are following us and try again, we'll know."

Finnick breathed in and out, pausing as the trees began to get thicker and the road began to twist more, the high van beginning to swing itself around ever so slightly. Checking his small controls, he glanced to the two and spoke two hard, uncompromising, impossible to misunderstand words.

"Get ready."

And with that he looked up, added a little more gas, and swung the wheel hard to the right. The tires screeched and Jack yelped as the van seemed to swing over to capsize. Even Skye had a flicker of worry as the world twisted around them, before the thrill took over. Oh, they were gonna easily make this and, as they swung around like a slingshot, Finnick let the momentum carry them into the waiting layby, paw slamming on the brakes. Skye held Jack back into his seat with one paw and unclipped his belt with the other, letting him start his leap over Finnick before the belt had even pulled itself taught. Finnick yanked back at the doorhandle and the hare leapt over him, pushing it open and landing on all fours, before immediately standing up and bending over, dry gagging out onto the hot, hard, dusty surface as the first car behind them rolled past.

His eyes raised, straining in their sockets to get the money shot, he had full view as the Zubaru Impalta swung around, gave a shrill shriek as it briefly skidded, and then roared on. Skye watched on as it rose up, turning the next corner, and carried on out of view.

Jack leapt back in. "There was a lion in there."

"Tiger too?" Finnick asked.

"Looked like it. Does this mean we pack in or what?"

"It could still be a coincidence," Skye said, pausing to think. "Or they're also after Duke."

Finnick nodded. "Following us to him?"

"Or they have the same intel." She rapped her claws on the dash. "In which case, they want to get him before us. For whatever reason."

"Dominic paid off a weasel or something to slander Bunny cop and Slick, right?" Finnick asked. "Maybe he hired those two bozos to get Duke. Maybe to stop him tattling on his daughter or somethin'."

Skye shook her head. "No. Duke knew something was going down. It can't be them, it's him." She paused, thinking for a second. "Maybe they want to capture him to expose him and get the heat off their family. Same reason they tried that stuff on Nick and Judy."

Jack nodded. "Moving the spotlight. Of course!"

Finnick shook his head. "'Cept Dominic and Kurt were working together. I saw it with my own two eyes!"

"What I just said was completely wrong," Jack agreed. "Of course!"

"Though wasn't there some disagreement?" the swift fox vixen asked.

"Yeah," the fennec groaned. "Dominic had it 'bout here with Dominic due to the heat… Maybe he's had enough and is trying to end this by taking the weasel back home and exposing him!"

"Enemy civil war," Jack agreed. "Of course!"

"Though I still think Bellwether had something to do with it," he groaned. "Maybe they worked together again… And maybe it's Kurt sending those guys up to ice the weasel before Dominic can make him pop the whole shebang."

"Of course…" Jack said, sounding unsure. "I… -am confused."

"Let's carry on," Skye said, gesturing to Finnick to start the van up again. "Thinking it through, I can think of four situations. They want to bring Duke in and are following us. They want to silence Duke and are following us. And then those two again, but they know where he is." She breathed in and out and looked down. "If they are following us, we can try and lose them. If not, if we don't beat them then we risk losing the key to the case."

Finnick breathed in and out and, checking his mirror, put his foot down. On they rolled, slowly picking up speed as they climbed the steep road. The trees were getting thicker and, as they turned around a broad corner, the fennec growled. There it was, in a layby, waiting.

He managed a glance to the right as they picked up speed and raced past. "Lion."

"See anything about him?" Jack asked.

"Well he had a mane," Finnick said into the air, before scowling. "Dammit, look!"

Glancing into her mirror, Skye's eyes narrowed. "Yup, they're following us."

"Right then?" Jack asked. "We abort.?"

Finnick grumbled. "There's not much we can do to lose them on this road."

Skye, quietly, got her phone out and scrolled through the map. "Logging trails."

"Huh?" Finnick asked.

She breathed in and out. "There's a web of logging trails that go up through the mountains. In there is a path to our lake and the chance to double back. We could try and lose them in there. How good's your driving?"

"I… I'm good!"

"We'll almost be rallying," Skye said, breathing out. "In a boxy easy to spot van, against an apex predator on its own turf. Whether we succeed or not will probably come down to the first turning. We'll have to get close enough to them that when we swing around to do the turn, they overshoot. This is an auto… can you handbrake turn in it?"

"I… Yeah, I tried once or twice," he said, sounding just a bit worried. "But I stopped after almost tipping!"

They were quiet for a second or two, before Skye looked down. "Jack, get in the back and make sure anything with any weight is tied down as low as you can on either side."

He nodded and did just that, while Skye apologised for the potential patronisation and revised Finnick on the procedure. The engine was roaring and straining, the van rattling, and the vixen in the front getting worried. They were getting close to the turning. "Brake," she ordered, lurching forward in her seat as Finnick did just that.

There was a shout from the back, she shouted back sorry, and she looked in the mirror as they came up close to the Zubaru. "Fast again," she said, her paw beginning to tremble. This time, the enemy was keeping close. "Jack," she said, switching over to his middle seat. "Hold on to the right hand side!"

"Done… Ready!"

She glanced at Finnick and breathed in and out. "Here it comes… Three, two, ONE!"

Still accelerating, he took the power off as he began spinning the wheel around. Gears into neutral, handbrake button on, she felt them swing around in a hellish squal of squeals, the van seemingly shaking itself apart as the right two wheels skittered on and off the road. "Power!"

Back intro drive, he floored it, their sideways swing picking itself up as it tried to drag them forward. A cloud of dust picked up on the left paw side as the wheel overshot the road ever so slightly, before clawing its way back on, pulling the rest of the van with it.

Glancing at it, she saw the cloud in the mirror, pierced by the impala as it slammed on the breaks. "Go, go, go!"

They did just that, the old vehicle pushed to its limits as it began the frantic climb up the steep slope, running through the woods on the narrow track like the prey fleeing a predator it was. The incoming tide of adrenaline briefly receding, Skye letting a smile flicker on her mouth. "Good… Good job."

"Yeah!" Finnick yelled. "We did it!"

"Not yet," she warned, getting her phone back up. "They'll be after us, and they will catch us. The road splits a bunch coming up. Two right turns right next to each other, the first a dead end, the second leading over the top. Straight on swings back around and loops back." She closed her eyes. "We get there far enough ahead, it's one in three. They have a map, one in two."

"But we still good, right?" he asked, sounding just a bit worried.

She looked up and around. "This part is pretty straight in parts, the curves are gentler. Even with the longer sightlines, it's better for us. The harder it is, the better chance their car has."

Anything else was left unsaid as they carried on picking up speed, rattling and shaking along the dust road as they weaved left and right. Finnick, worried, glanced down to check the speed. He couldn't make it out. Jack called from the back, asking if he should do anything. Skye told him to stay where he was, they were going to turn right again soon. The vixen, eyes half glued to the mirror, cursed under her breath as a merciless silver hunter emerged behind them. A twist threw it behind the woods, but its merciless pursuit would not be stopped.

Not unless…

"-Ready," she warned, glancing down. Pulling around a corner, he saw them flick around the one behind, maybe…. "NOW!"

Compared to their turn onto the backroads it was nothing, just a gentle curve, but Skye still felt herself get pulled to one side, the wheels on the other end raising themselves away from the ground. Her heart beat fast and her fur was on end, the thrill of the race cut through by the shake of the brakes dabbing on. -Unneeded, she told herself, but would it sink them?

The road ahead was narrower, bendier, she felt Finnick taking it slower and more carefully, even if to a casual rider the fennec was a crazy wannabe on the fury road.

There was also a longer patch to go before the next chance to lose them, if they were following…

Her brow furrowed as Finnick took another bend unnecessarily slow.

She was certain they knew they went right. They were too close. Rounding their corner, they may not have seen them taking the turn, but they wouldn't have seen them on the straight up ahead. A bit of thinking, and they'd have known which way they took and, had they got a map up, they'd know that one only one of the ways through was an option.

And all that was moot if they'd been closer and had seen…

"DAMMIT!"

"AW CRAP!"

There they were again, running on after them, too close to dodge anymore. Skye hissed. "I should have pulled us up the dead end."

"Wha?"

""Let them run on ahead and doubled back, I…" She closed her eyes and scratched her claws on the dash, ignoring Finnick's scold not to. Nothing short of a spray bottle would make her take notice, she needed to think, she needed to…

"Keep going. Jack?"

"Yeah," he said, popping back into the front. She pushed down her phone. "See that loop there. Get Finnick to keep looping on it, keep them busy."

"I…"

"Do you trust me?"

…

"Yes. Okay Finn, straight on here…"

She nodded as they did that before narrowing her eyes at the mirror. How good were these mammals? They had the four wheel drive pedigree vehicle, she and her gang had a shaky van, they were fully outclassed on equipment, but with skill? She did her best to try and focus, watching how they took the corners. All while she thought through what to do next. They were following them, so they didn't know where Duke was. If they followed them though, they'd find him. They might suspect he was here anyhow, just from them being here…

She kept watching, seeing them fall behind just a little in the corners before racing up on the straights.

They were not rally drivers.

In this, she could beat them.

But they'd still be hunting around the area.

"We're going to lose the battle to win the war," she said. "We try and throw them off here, fail, lead them to another area and win there."

"Right," Finnick said, ears lowering.

"-I need to drive."

He blinked, looking up to her. "Waidamminit. Your leg…"

"You don't use yours, do you?" she asked. "I hate using small mammal controls, but beggars can't be choosers. -If we do crash, you were driving though."

"Right," he muttered. "But how do we…"

"On the fly," she said. "Slow down to just ten or so, Jack can hold the pedal while we…"

Despite his skeptical look, Finnick nodded, waving the hare on to take over using the main pedals. Skye grabbed the wheel and watched as he got out of the way. A yank to remove his improvised booster seat and she dumped herself down on the seat, taking over with the fiddly little on-wheel controls as she buckled up and made sure everyone was safe.

A quick check on the fuel level (fine) and engine temp (not great, not terrible) out of instinct, and her thumb pad pressed down on the wheel-mounted accelerator button.

Off they went, and this time she wasn't taking any prisoners. A sharp turn came up, she took it while still accelerating. Then another in the opposite direction, no problem. They were rattling again, the van beginning to feel like it would come apart, but there was still more that Skye was going to ask of it. Accelerate, turn, accelerate, a tiny hint of brake. Was it enough? "Where are they?"

"Keeping up," Jack said, glancing in the mirror. "Just…"

Good," she said, as she turned a corner. The road split in two up ahead, and she raced dead on, faster and faster, past the turning off and barrelling down on a line of trees.

"Skye…" Jack began to say, but she saw the hairpin turning and turned into it, slipping into neutral and pressing the handbrake button. Gravel slipped and the world shuddered as she wrestled with the bucking wheel as she tamed it, sending the unruly bronco around the bend in a trail of dust.

"YEEHA!" Finnick cried, as she let a wan toothy grin grow on her face.

"Yeah…" she said.

"I… I think I saw them as we were going around," Jack began.

"Good," she said, breathing in and out. "This takes us back to the main road. We carry on up it, past our planned turning, and lead them on a wild goose chase into the mountains. You find us another set of roads like these, I lose them there."

"Great," he said, beginning to hold on and shake as they careened back down the road like a trio of mad-mammals. "So why you still going fast?"

"Keeping up appearances," she smiled, as Finnick spoke up.

"Feeling queasy, meat Bun?"

"I…" he began to say, only for the sick bag to be thrust into his lap. "-might need this."

"Not long now," Skye said, weaving back and forth before slamming on the breaks and sliding the van to a sideways halt, a cloud of dust kicked out onto the main road and into the path of a logging truck. Its horn screamed out and was still blaring as Skye pushed them back onto the main road, picking up speed once more.

Jack relaxed, the van happily rolling over the blissfully smooth tarmac. "This… this is better."

Finnick nodded. "Just going back, check the damage." And with that he dived down and scurried through his crawl-hole.

Jack, massaging his head, glanced out of his window. "Guess who's back."

Skye nodded. "I didn't expect to lose them there." She glanced at her phone. "Keep looking. I want a maze of roads like that we can lose them on."

"Jack on duty," he saluted, as the pair receded back into a tense silence, only broken by Finnick yelling that his planetarium had been broken.

On they rolled, further and further along, as the mountains around them got higher and the forests thicker with trees.

Half an hour later, well past their original destination, Jack showed Skye her phone. On there was a web of trails, several branching out far into the woods and on to the other side. Skye gave it a nod and, watching the car behind, got ready.

Her fingers moved off the on-wheel controls and her feet rested on the pedals. She wanted more control.

"Five," she said, seeing the engine temp running high.

"Four," she could see the turn

"Three," A truck was coming the other way.

"Two," She could make it.

"ONE!"

Wheel turned, engine neutral, handbrake on, she swung them around and powered on the speed, racing them past the roaring truck, horn screaming, and up the dirty track road. Her good foot working the pedals, she kept them going up, giving one last glance behind, seeing the enemy cut off behind a line of vehicles.

They rounded a bend, vanishing from their view, before she led them weaving through the forest, pedals dancing and branches whipping. Jack called a left and she went around, still picking up speed. Then a right. Then a hairpin. Then a long run, followed by a sharp left. The engine temperature was edging on red, so fingers crossed. Another long trek, then a weave along a snaking dirt track. Jack and Finnick held on, Skye's teeth were gritted, she bobbed up and down and left and right as they moved.

"Last left here," Jack called, and she took it with speed.

On they went, going down and straight, Skye letting out a breath as they saw a main road, a new one, up ahead.

They turned on and after ten minutes pulled over, no silver Zoobaru following them anymore, the engine given time to cool.

"That should throw them off," she said, breathing out.

"Right. Back to finding Duke," Finn said, only to be cut off.

"They might be scanning the main road in case we double backed," she warned, rubbing her head. "And yes, they might try that lake and spot Duke… But that's a lot trickier than finding this van."

"So what now?" he asked.

"Drive us home," she said, letting him back on his seat.

She got into hers and they began making their way back, Jack patting her as they went. "Nice! That was awesome."

"Yeah," she said, huffing out and looking over. "Thanks."

An ear raised. "Skye?"

"It's…" she began, before stopping herself. Breathing in and out, she spoke. "Just a bit of ache, in…"

She glanced down at her bandaged up leg.

Jack smiled and hugged her back, as they set off home.